Over-Reaching Probation Officer

I have a question about the actions of a probation officer serving in North Florida.

My son has served 39 months of a five year probation. He reports to his probation officer at the beginning of each month. At that time he turns over all his travel logs and makes any requests for permission to travel for his boss and to visit relatives. He is a commercial pilot and is required to travel out of the county for his employer.

He is monitored with a GPS ankle bracelet and has never been anywhere he shouldn’t be. He has paid all the fines and fees associated with his plea agreement. The agreement was that he pleads guilty to a second degree felony and become a registered sex offender in exchange for no trial and no jail time. I will go to my grave knowing that my son is not a pedophile regardless of what the State of Florida thinks. They never had to prove their case only threaten him with prosecution, if successful, could have resulted with him spending the rest of his life in prison. What is the life expectancy of a pedophile in any state penitentiary? My son’s lawyers advised “biting his tongue” and take the deal. The risks were too great, the stakes were too high. It wasn’t worth it financially, it wasn’t worth it legally. Nothing short of an acquittal on all seven counts would he be better off. He had every intention of serving his probation quietly and without any violations.

His marriage dissolved last year when he lost all support of his wife and her family. He is the father of four wonderful children, two boys and two girls. This resulted with an obligation to pay child support. His income is not steady because of the nature of his flying. There are seasons of boom and seasons of bust. Making full payments on time became a real challenge. The state agency charged with child support enforcement worked with my son and promised that his driver’s license would not be suspended if he made regular payments of at least half the required amount. They would manually override any action that would result in a suspension. He was assured on several occasions that his account deficit would not result in a suspension.

Well, guess what? His license had been suspended 3 months earlier when someone forgot to “override” the computer screen. No one within the agency was aware of the suspension because they do not have direct access to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles data base.

Now for the crux of my question regarding the actions of his probation officer. For reasons unknown, she concluded that she had to have him “violated” for driving on a suspended license. She later asserted that he must have known of the suspension and that he intentionally continued to drive. She enlisted the help of the local sheriff’s office by asking them to be on the look out for a specific automobile on the way to the local airport. Oh, I forgot to say that she and another officer had just spent the last 3 hours at my son’s home tearing the place apart. They arrived on his doorstep at 4 A.M. and stayed to just after 7 A.M. She inquired more than once as to what time was he going to work. My son told her and didn’t think anything of it.

Sure enough, he gets about half way to the airport when a sheriff’s deputy observes my son making erratic lane changes. He issues him a warning not a citation. Of course, when he runs the plates and driver’s license he is not surprised. Within minutes a wrecker is called and by some miracle the probation officer shows up with an arrest order. This incident occurred 4 weeks ago and he has been incarcerated ever since.

Excuse me, are you saying that the probation officer knew that your son's license was suspended and sent cops out to watch for him driving but your son had no idea?

You are precisely correct!!

You are precisely correct!